Grain door



March 13, 1951 c. o. THOMAS GRAIN DOOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 10, 1948 o o o o Fig.9.

Carl/s5 0. Thomas INVEN TOR. 4015b.

March 13, 1951 c. o. THOMAS 2,544,865

GRAIN DOOR Filed May 10, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.2.

Carl/s5 0. Thomas INI-"ENTOR.

BY waoflm March 13, 1951 c. o. THOMAS GRAIN DOOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed May 10, 1948 1 x l l l l ll.

Cor/iss 0. Thomas IN VEN TOR.

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March 13, 1951 c. o. THOMAS GRAIN DOOR Filed May 10, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Fig 4 27 30 F/g.6. fl flflfl 5 1 1, =11- I L 6 a a9 l I l I a l I I 71 3 i ll 26 59:

i I3 I II '1 H II I. H ll '1 i. .g /2 I II I 25 i I; L 1 l 5 2 /7 i la 42 i l F I n 43 Carl/s5 0. Thomas 1 45 JNVENTOR. 4/ 'H A A Harnqs Patented Mar. 13, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GRAIN DOOR Corliss 0. Thomas, Ralls, Tex.

Application May 10, 1948, Serial No. 26,141

2 Claims. (Cl. 160-210) This invention relates to inside grain doors for freight cars, and the primary object of the invention is to provide novel mounting and counterbalancing means for the door so that it 'may be readily slid upwardly to release its lower end, and then swung inwardly and upwardly to an open position near the roof of the car to occupy a space extending from the adjacent side of the car to a point short of the longitudinal center thereof, whereby the open door will not interfere with the opening or closing of a similar opposing door in the other side of the car, even though the hanger rods of the door are longer than one-half the width of the car when the door is closed.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel means for releasably holding the door in open position and for firmly clamping it against lateral movement by a sudden jerking of the car, when open.

The exact nature of the present invention will become apparent from the following description when considered in connection with the accom panying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal section of a freight car equipped with a grain door embodying the present invention, and showing the inner side of the door;

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a vertical transverse section taken on line 44 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on line 5-5 of Figure 2;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on line 6-6 of Figure 1;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on line l'! of Figure 1;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary section taken on line 88 of Figure 4;

Figure 9 is a fragmentary elevation of the outer side of the lower section of the door, showing the wicket thereof.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 5 indicates a portion of a modern freight car having a side doorway 6 whose height is more than twice the distance from each side of the car to the longitudinal center thereof. In practice, a similar doorway (not shown) is provided in the other side of the car directly opposite the doorway 6.

In accordance with the present invention, each door jamb 6' is rabbeted as at 1 throughout the inner corner of its inner edge for reception of a sealing strip 8 having a central longitudinal groove 9. The door is composed of a lower section l0, and an upper section I l of slightly lesser vertical dimension and hinged at I2 to the lower section ID for folding inwardly and downwardly against the inner face of the latter. The door sections are preferably constructed of sheet metal and suitably reinforced, as by horizontal angle bars I3 and vertical angle bars l4 secured to the outer faces thereof. The vertical angle bars M are disposed adjacent the vertical edges of the door sections and have transverse flanges slidabl fitting in the grooves 9 of the strips 8 to seal the door at the sides when closed and prevent outward displacement thereof. Along the bottom of the doorway, the car door I5 is grooved as at I6 to receive the lower edge portion of the lower door section when the door is closed, for the same purpose.

For hanging the door, I provide vertical hollow columns I1, and a hanger rod associated with each column andcomposed of telescopic lower and upper sections l8 and I9, respectively. The columns I! are rigidly attached to and spaced outwardly from the sides of the lower door section In out of the path of the door section II by means of brackets 20, and they extend from a point slightly above the plane of the lower edge of said door section Hi to the plane of the upper edge thereof. Each rod section I8 slidably projects into the upper end of the associated column I1, and each rod section l9 slidably projects into the associated rod section [8, while the upper ends of the rod sections l9 are hinged at 2| to the inner side of the lintel beam 22 to swing vertically. To prevent separation of the elements l1, l8 and I9, the elements [8 and I9 have heads 23 and 24- on their lower ends adapted to contact bushings 25 and 26 secured in the upper ends of the elements I! and 18, when said elements l8 and I!) are fully extended. Thus, the door may be slidably elevated to unseal the same at the bottom and to then collapse the rod sections 18 with respect to columns I1 and the rod sections l9 with respect to the rod sections l8, after the upper door section II is folded. While this collapsing action takes place, the folded door is swung upwardly to a position adjacent the roof 2'! of the car as shown by dotted lines in Figure 2, the open folded door being wholly located to one side of the longitudinal center of the car.

Means is provided to hold the folded door in the raised position and to clamp the same against lateral displacement while raised. For this purpose, depending pairs of oppositely facing rigidly connected and recessed jaws 28 are pivoted at 29 to rafters 30 of the car for cooperation with opposed raised grain doors, by engaging the lower edges of their lower sections. A toggle joint 3! connects these pairs of jaws and may be collapsed by a pull cord 32 to swing the pairs of jaws toward each other so as to release and permit lowering of the doors. Other jaws 33 are fixed to the lintel beam 22 to receive the adjacent hingedly connected edges of the folded and raised door sections when the door is forced "toward the side of the car by swinging the pairs of jaws 28 apart. Ihglatter operation is effected by use of a second pull cord 34 for straightening the toggle joint, and the cords 32 and 34 are passed around pulleys 35 and- 36 to'and into the side wall of the car and then inwardly through openings 3'! to cord holders 3B. The upper door section I I- is held in upwardly swung closed position byv suitable means, suchas "sliding bolts '39 mounted on the door section II adjacent its side edges and engageable in sockets 46 provided in the'strips 8. The lower door section l0...is provided with asuitable wicket 41- in the lower-central portion thereof, and suitable means and 43 are provided for respectively opening and 'closing'the wicket and for securing it in closed position.

In orderthat the door may beraised'with the expenditure: of a minimum amount of manual effort, it is nearly -counter-balancd by means including weights 'd'l movable w'ithin' thesidewall of the car and connected'to the lower corners of the door by cords'45 which pass over pulle'ysdfi at the sides and near the top of the dooropening, and over'other'pulleys at "4T carried 'by'the rafters 38 near thedongitudinal center "of the car.

From the foregoing description, it is believed that the construction, operation and advantages of the present invention will be readily understood and appreciated by those skilled in the art. Minor changes in construction and modifications are contempla'tedwithinthe spirit and scopeof the invention as claimed.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In combination with afreight car having a door opening in one side wall thereof whose height is greater than twice the distance from said side wall of the car to the longitudinal center thereof, an inside grain door for substantially closing said door openin including a lower section of nearly the same but slightly lesser vertical dimensions than said distance and an upper section of nearly the same but slightly lesser vertical dimensions than the lower section hinged to the upper edge of the latter to fold inwardly and downwardlyagainst the inner face thereof, said door sections being wider than and extending across the sides of the doorway at the inside of the latter, hollow vertical columns rigidly attached to and spaced outwardly from the sides of the lower door section, said column extending from near the bottom to the top of said lower door section, telescopic hanger rods including lower sections slidable substantially wholly into the columns and upper sections slidable subwholly into the. lower sections and hinged to the inside of said side wall of the car above the door opening whereby the folded door may be slid upwardly and then swung inwardly and upwardly to occupy aposition beneath the roof of the car wholly between said side wall of the carand the longitudinal center thereof.

2. The construction defined in claim 1, in combination with'means for nearly counter-balancing the door including weights vertically movable in the side wall of the car, cords connecting the weights to the lower corners of the lower door section, guides for said cords at the sides and near the top of the door'opening, and other guides for said cords directly'beneath the roof and near the longitudinal center of the car, said cords extending from the'doorinwardly and upwardly over the last-named guides andthen'outwardly over the first named guides.

CORLISS O. THOMAS.

"RI'QFERENCES CITED .The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

"UNITED STATESPATENTS Number Name Date 409,077 'Trier Aug. 13,1889 1,261,686 Boughton "Apr. 2, I918 1,843,480 Dautrick -QFb. 2,1932 2,057,555 Clark et a1. Oct. i3, 1936 2,170,295 Ferris Aug. 22,1939 

